Insulating staple



Oct. 24, 1950 N. c. RUBLEE INSULATING STAPLE Filed July 31, 1947 IIIIIII/ I N V EN TOR. NORM/7N C. ffi/BL 5.

BY ddu d/daai HTTOFNE).

Patented Oct. 24, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to insulating staples, and more particularly to a staple having a plastic covering whereby it is insulated from an electric wire which is secured in position by said staple.

An object of this invention is to provide a staple having a covering of insulating material over the wire gripping portion thereof, so as to prevent contact between the wire and the metallic portion. of the staple.

A further object of the invention is to provide a staple, for securing electric wires, having an insulating portion with a recess therein adapted to provide a grip for retaining the staple in position on the wire to aid in the use of the staple.

Further objects and advantages of this inven tion will be more clearly understood from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side view, in central vertical section, of a staple embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side view, in central vertical section, of a modified form of a staple embodying the invention.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, my invention provides a staple having a metallic body portion of conventional form with pointed legs 55 connected by a bridge portion 5.

The said bridge portion and portions of the legs 5 are provided with a covering 1, of suitable in sulating material, which is applied to the body preferably by a molding operation with a molding die of suitable construction.

Below the bridge portion 5 and between the upper portions of the legs 5-5, I provide inwardly projecting portions 8-8 which form a recess 9 that is adapted to receive a wire, indicated at iii, to retain the staple in position thereon. The entrance to the recess 9, between the portions 3-8, is smaller than the diameter of the wire which the staple is intended, so that the said staple may be snapped on to the wire, with the said points 8-8 passing the portions where the wire is largest, to cause the staple to firmly grip the wire and be retained thereon against displacement.

My invention is particularly intended for facil- Eating the use of my improved staple by permitting it to be hooked on to the wire and thus held in position to be driven into place for securing the wire by simply holding the wire, with the staple thereon, in the position in which it is to be secured.

In the use of my improved staple, the wire may be held with one hand While the staples are snapped into the desired position upon the wire and then hammered into place with the other hand. This permits holding the wire and the staple thereon in their proper positions and thus facilitating the use of the staples and permitting a saving of time in running electric wires to desired places.

In the modified form illustrated in Fig. 3, the entrance to the recessed part II is larger than in the form shown in Fig. 1, so as to adapt the staple to wires of different forms.

It will be noted that the bottom end portion of the cover, which extend over the legs 55 of the staple, taper downwardly to a thin edge which conforms in shape with the surface of said legs. The said portions extend slightly below the bottom of the cable indicated at l0 and are adapted to enter the material into which the staple is driven so as to permit the exposed portions of said legs to become fully imbedded in the material and thereby protect them from exposure and direct contact with the wire Hi.

It will be noted that the bottom end portions of the cover, which extend over the legs 55 of the staple, are pointed downwardly to a thin edge which converges with the surfaces of said legs. This provides a point at the bottom of each of said portions which extends slightly below the bottom of the cable indicated at Ill and enters the material in which the staple is driven so as to permit the exposed portions of said legs to become fully embedded in the material and thereby protect it from exposure and direct contact with the wire Ill.

I claim:

1. A staple of the character described comprising a metallic body having a pair of pointed leg portions interconnected by a bridge portion, a coating of insulating material molded over said body and completely enclosing said bridge portion; the said insulating material being formed to provide a recess under said bridge portion and between said leg portions and having a constricted entrance to receive a separate member and thereby retain said staple in position upon said member.

2. For a staple comprising an integral metallic body including a pair of pointed leg portions and an inter-connecting bridge portion, a covering of insulating material completely enclosing the said bridge portion and part of the leg portions; the said covering extending inwardly from the op posed sides of the leg portions to provide a recess under the bridge for receiving a separate member therein.

3. An insulating staple for securing electric wires in position, said staple comprising an integral metallic body including pointed parallel legs with an interconnecting bridge portion, a covering of insulating material molded over said body and enclosing the said bridge portion and the upper portions of said legs, the portions of said covering which enclose the said leg portions being formed to provide inwardly extending projections spaced from the bottom of the bridge covering to provide a recess thereunder for receiving said wire therein and to frictionally se cure said staples to the wire and thereby retain them in position to be driven into wire mounting position.

4. An insulating staple as set forth in claim 6 wherein the bottom ends of said covering taper downwardly to the surface of the metallic legs to thereby provide a throat portion leading into said recess and a thin edge adapted to enter into the material in which said staple is driven and thereby prevent exposure of the metallic portion of said legs.

NORMAN C. RUBLEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

